Spatial marketplace system

ABSTRACT

A method of managing the delivery of offers via a spatial marketplace system involves registering potential customers as members of the system by recording their names and contact details in a database. A spatial identifier, sourced from the contact details supplied during a registration process, is assigned to each database record. Each member nominates one or more attributes corresponding to a commodity in relation to which the member is interested in receiving offers. Each supplier defines a geographic region in which the supplier wishes to do business and nominates one or more attributes corresponding to commodities, which the supplier wishes to sell. A spatial identifier location algorithm is used to identify the database records with spatial identifers located within the supplier defined geographical region. Delivery of offers from a supplier is restricted to members associated with the identified database records which have nominated attributes matching the supplier nominated attributes.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to the spatially targeted delivery of offers fromsuppliers to potential customers. It relates particularly but notexclusively to a method and system for managing, the delivery of offersin response to requests for offers made by potential customers which aremembers of a spatial marketplace system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional marketing methods, which entail the distribution ofpromotional materials, generally involve a haphazard approach todetermining the sector of the community to be targeted by a particularpromotion. Advertising campaigns that rely on classified advertisementsin newspapers and the placement of advertisements in magazines andperiodicals are constrained in their geographic extent by predefineddistribution routes and channels over which the advertiser has nocontrol.

Undoubtedly, in many cases advertisers inadvertently market goods andservices to individuals and households, which do not even reside in thesame state or city where the advertised goods and services are offered.Whilst this is not an issue for businesses dealing in products that haveuniversal appeal and are easily and inexpensively dispatched by mailsuch as books or CDs, it is a major problem for businesses that areinherently reliant on a local client base due to the nature of the goodsoffered, in the case of a hardware store for example, or because thebusiness provides locally based services such as a take away foodoutlet.

The use of alternative advertising media such as catalogues distributedvia mail drops and telemarketing, offers the advertiser a greater degreeof control over the geographic extent of the distribution of promotionalmaterials. However, the problem remains, that a large proportion ofgroups and individuals who are targeted in the random distribution ofmarketing materials, have little or no interest in the products orservices on offer and are unlikely to turn out to be prospectivecustomers.

The introduction of the Internet has revolutionised the manner in whichbusiness is conducted. The Internet enables users to browse and accessinformation regarding products and services and electronically placeorders to purchase the same, without any geographic restrictions. Due torapid growth in the popularity of the Internet as a means ofcommunication, the use of the Internet as a marketing tool has alsogained prevalence.

The Internet makes it possible to transmit large quantities ofinformation to a large number of people in a short time. Thesecapabilities, combined with the low cost of communications over theInternet, make the Internet an attractive medium for advertisers.Electronic marketing via the Internet provides rapid and economicalaccess to large numbers of prospective customers. However, a notabledisadvantage of the Internet is that it does not provide a means foreffectively identifying and targeting local customers and therefore doesnot provide a suitable marketing opportunity for businesses relying on alocal customer base for trade.

Some examples of forms of electronic advertising via the Internetinclude distribution of unsolicited commercial emails (otherwise knownas spam) and pop-up advertisements or website banner advertisementswhich appear on unrelated websites and usually have a direct link to theadvertiser's website. The recipients of such advertising messages arenot specifically targeted. In the case of website banner advertising,any individual viewing a particular website will be targeted by thepromotion. For Internet users, these forms of unsolicited advertisingare a constant source of annoyance and are usually simply ignored. Forthese reasons, the success rate of electronic marketing in this form isdoubtful.

The randomized distribution of promotional material causes a high levelof inefficiency at a significant cost to the advertiser. Advertisers arenot able to successfully identify and target those sectors of thecommunity that are most likely to respond to specific promotions. Inaddition, individuals and households have no influence over theadvertising materials that they receive and may become exasperated atthe amount of unsolicited junk mail delivered to them.

The discussion of the background to the invention included herein isincluded to explain the context of the invention. This is not to betaken as an admission that any of the material referred to waspublished, known or part of the common general knowledge as at thepriority date of the claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of managing the delivery of offers from suppliers to membersvia a spatial marketplace system including the steps of:

-   -   (a) registering potential customers as members of the spatial        marketplace system by recording their names and contact details        in a database;    -   (b) assigning a spatial identifier to each database record, the        spatial identifier being sourced from the contact details        supplied during a registration process;    -   (c) each member nominating one or more attributes corresponding        to a commodity in relation to which the member is interested in        receiving offers;    -   (d) each supplier defining a geographic region in which the        supplier wishes to do business and nominating one or more        attributes corresponding to commodities which the supplier        wishes to sell;    -   (e) using a spatial identifier location algorithm to identify        the database records with spatial identifiers located within the        geographical region defined by the supplier;    -   wherein delivery of offers from a supplier is restricted to        members associated with the identified database records which        have nominated attributes matching the attributes nominated by        the supplier.

It is to be understood that a supplier may be any business or supplierwishing to promote or sell commodities. A potential customer having maybe any individual, a household or a business wishing to buy or find outmore about one or more commodities. Potential customers having theirdetails registered in the database may be referred to as members. Acommodity may be any good or service which is promoted or offered forsale using the system.

In a preferred form, each supplier is advised of the number ofidentified database records associated with nominated attributesmatching the attributes nominated by the supplier and the cost ofdelivering offers to members associated with each of those databaserecords, wherein the supplier either agrees to deliver offers to each ofthe members thereby incurring the cost, or modifies the geographicalregion to increase or decrease the number of offers to be delivered.

In one embodiment of the invention, each database record is accompaniedby details of memberships to a third party organisation, wherein thethird party organisation receives a percentage of revenue form thespatial marketplace system in return for introducing their members tothe system.

In another form of the invention, the supplier associates a numericqualifier or range of numeric qualifiers with one or more attributes,wherein the delivery of offers is further restricted to members whichhave nominated a numeric qualifier for the relevant attribute whichmatches or falls within the range of the numeric qualifiers nominated bythe supplier. This allows suppliers to selectively respond only torequests for offers from members which specify a quantity, size, lengthor the like that matches criteria nominated by the supplier.

In yet another form of the invention, the member nominates a preferredsettlement or payment option selected from a menu provided by thesystem, wherein the delivery of offers is further restricted to memberswhich have nominated a settlement or payment option which matches thesettlement or payment options utilised by the supplier. Examples ofsettlement or payment options may include credit card, cash, cheque,bank cheque, credit card or specific types of credit card such asAmerican Express™, VISA™, MASTERCARD™ or any combination thereof. Thisenables buyers (members) to be matched with sellers (suppliers) offeringtheir preferred settlement or payment options.

In one arrangement, the member nominates a point in time and a timeinterval when a request for offers will be presented to suppliers.

Preferably, the member nominates a mode via which the offers will bedelivered from the supplier to the member. More preferably, the mode viawhich the offers will be delivered from the supplier to the member isselected from one or more of the following:

-   -   (a) via a member's system control panel;    -   (b) via the member's email;    -   (c) via a nominated third party email;    -   (d) via telephone;    -   (e) via short message service (SMS); or    -   (f) via post.

A member's system control panel is preferably viewed via an Internetbrowser. However, it is to be understood that offers may be delivered tomembers by any suitable means including delivery via facsimile message.

In one embodiment of the invention, the geographical region is an areawithin a distance from one or more geographical points nominated by thesupplier.

In another embodiment of the invention, the geographical region is anarea displayed on a map presented to the supplier on an interface,whereby modification of the area displayed on the map results in acorresponding modification in the geographical region.

Each attribute corresponding to a commodity may be defined by at leastfour levels, each consecutive level providing a refinement to adescription of the commodity.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda spatial marketplace system for managing the delivery of offers fromsuppliers to members, including:

-   -   (a) a database recording the names of the members;    -   (b) means for assigning a spatial identifier to each database        record, the spatial identifier being sourced from information        supplied during a registration process;    -   (c) means for associating each record with one or more        attributes corresponding to a commodity in relation to which the        member is interested in receiving offers;    -   (d) geographical region selection means by which the supplier        selects a geographical region in which the offers are to be        delivered;    -   (e) a spatial identifier location algorithm for identifying the        database records with spatial identifiers located within the        selected geographical region; and    -   (f) delivery means for delivering the offers to members        associated with the identified database records which have        nominated attributes matching the attributes nominated by the        supplier.

In one embodiment the system includes means for accompanying eachdatabase record by details of memberships to third party organisations,wherein the third party organisation receives a percentage of revenueform the spatial marketplace system in return for introducing theirmembers to the system.

In another embodiment the system includes means for the supplier toassociate a numeric qualifier or range of numeric qualifiers with one ormore attributes, wherein the delivery of offers is further restricted tomembers which have nominated a numeric qualifier for the relevantattribute which matches or falls within the range of the numericqualifiers nominated by the supplier.

Preferably, the system includes means for nominating a preferredsettlement or payment option selected from a menu provided by thesystem, wherein the delivery of offers is further restricted to memberswhich have nominated a settlement or payment option which matches thesettlement or payment options utilised by the supplier.

In one form of the invention, the system including means for nominatinga point in time and a time interval when a member's request for offerswill be presented to suppliers.

Preferably, the system includes means for nominating a mode via whichthe offers will be delivered from the supplier to the member. Morepreferably, the mode via which the offers will be delivered from thesupplier to the member is selected from one or more of the following:

-   -   (a) via a member's system control panel;    -   (b) via the member's email;    -   (c) via a nominated third party email;    -   (d) via telephone;    -   (e) via short message service (SMS); or    -   (f) via post.

In an embodiment of the invention, the geographical region selectionmeans define an area within a distance from one or more geographicalpoints nominated by the supplier.

In another form, the geographical region selection means defines an areadisplayed on a map presented to the supplier on an interface, wherebymodification of the area displayed on the map results in a correspondingmodification in the geographical region.

In a preferred form of the invention, the system generates automatedoffers on behalf of suppliers in response to requests for offers frommembers.

Preferably, each attribute corresponding to a commodity is defined by atleast four levels, each consecutive level providing a refinement to adescription of the commodity.

In one arrangement, an attribute database is associated with the system,the attribute database including the commodities to be offered using thesystem and a corresponding unique attribute identifier which describesor relates to each of the goods or services.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of establishing a database of potential customers for thedelivery of offers, the method including the following steps:

-   -   (a) organisations maintaining a membership database introduce        their members to a spatial marketplace system as members in        return for a percentage of revenue;    -   (b) members are offered an incentive in exchange for        registering, providing a spatial identifier, nominating        attributes corresponding to commodities in relation to which the        member consents to receiving offers; and    -   (c) suppliers are granted access to a register of members which        are categorised according to their spatial identifiers and        attribute profiles;    -   thereby enabling advertisers to target members whose spatial        identifiers and attribute profiles correspond to criteria        predetermined by the supplier.

Preferably, access to the register of members is granted to the supplierby advising the supplier of the number of members associated with aspatial identifier and an attribute profile matching the supplierscriteria and the cost of delivering offers to those members, wherein thesupplier either agrees to deliver offers to each of those membersthereby incurring the cost, or alternatively, the supplier modifies thecriteria to increase or decrease the number of offers to be delivered.

In one form of the invention, the incentive offered to members is use ofa personal website.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will hereinafter be described in greater detail withreference to the attached drawings, which show example forms of theinvention. It is to be understood that the particularity of the drawingsdoes not supersede the generality of the preceding description of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating how the delivery of offers can bemanaged according to a first embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, 2 d and 2 e are screen captures showing examples ofconsecutive levels of attributes used to accurately define a commodity.

FIG. 3 is a map presented to the supplier via an interface to facilitateselection of the geographical region in which offers are to bedelivered.

FIG. 4 is a form to be used by suppliers to register their details onthe database.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An overview of a spatial marketplace system according to one embodimentof the invention can be understood by working through the method ofmanaging the delivery of offers as illustrated in FIG. 1.

An organisation which maintains a membership database or similar as partof its operations, promotes the spatial marketplace system to theirmembers in exchange for a percentage of revenue raised by the spatialmarket place system through advertising in the form of delivery ofoffers to members. By participating in the program, organisations suchas sporting clubs, professional organisations and community groups, areprovided with an ongoing sponsorship revenue medium.

Members are encouraged to participate in the scheme by the offer ofincentives in the form of financial benefits for their professionalorganisation or local community group, in addition to individual rewardsoffered to a member upon registration. In order for members to becomeeligible to receive the designated reward, in addition to providingpersonal contact details a minimum number of attributes corresponding tocommodities in relation to which the member consents to receiving offersincluding promotional offers and marketing material, must be elected.Preferably, the incentive offered to the individual or household as areward for registering as a member to the spatial marketplace system, isaccess to a website development tool enabling the reward recipient tocreate their own personal website.

Once a potential customer chooses to register with the spatialmarketplace system as a member, the potential customer is prompted toenter personal contact details such as a name, address, email address,telephone number and mobile telephone number. It is envisaged that theregistration process and entering of contact details takes place via anInternet website.

As a requirement of the registration process, the member whether it bean individual, household or business, must supply contact detailsincluding a physical address. This address is used to derive a spatialidentifier which is stored in the database. The spatial identifier maycomprise a set of coordinates, defining a precise point of latitude andlongitude where the individual, household resides or where the businessis located. The coordinates may define a three dimensional location.

In addition to entering contact details, in order to be eligible for anindividual reward, the member must nominate one or more attributescorresponding to a commodity in relation to which the member isinterested in receiving offers. This may be referred to as a request foroffers from suppliers. Completion of the request for offers may beeffected by selecting one or more check boxes from a menu thatcorrespond to attributes corresponding to commodities, i.e. goods and/orservices being of interest to the member. The member may be interestedin purchasing a commodity or may simply be interested in learning moreabout them. In addition to corresponding to particular interests of themember specified in a request for offer, selected attributes may relateto commodities in relation to which the member consents to receivinginformation regarding promotions or special offers.

It will be apparent that the ability of members to post requests foroffers to multiple suppliers offers a time saving and efficient methodfor the member to gather information and identify suppliers from who themember may wish to purchase goods or services.

Some examples of attributes which could be used to build a request foroffer include but are not limited to:

-   -   Motor cars    -   Restaurants    -   Fishing    -   Travel    -   Computers    -   Sport    -   Movie offers    -   Investment opportunities    -   Wine    -   Music

Each major attribute category may be divided into attributesubcategories that more clearly define the commodity of interest. Forexample:

-   -   Music        -   Classical        -   Jazz        -   Rock        -   Pop        -   Swing        -   Big band        -   Country        -   Blue grass

Selection of attribute subcategories, preferably via a menu, provides amore accurate definition of the commodities of interest to a member.Attributes are preferably defined by numbers or codes, to preventproblems caused by misspellings and discrepancies in interpretation.Every commodity offered via the spatial marketplace system has a uniqueattribute code to enable more accurate requests for offers to beassembled and for more accurately targeted delivery of offers fromsuppliers to members. Members can search attribute codes using key wordsor access a pull down menu as required.

FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, 2 d and 2 e show how each unique attribute isdefined by a number of levels. Each consecutive level provides arefinement to the description of the commodity requested or offered.

Once the member is satisfied with the selection of attributes, therequest for offer is submitted to the spatial marketplace system to bewritten to the database in association with the member's personalcontact details and a corresponding spatial identifier. In submitting arequest for offers indicating commodities of interest, the memberconsents to receiving promotional material and special offers relatingto his or her interests.

It is intended that a member will be able to edit their request foroffers at any time, even once the registration process is complete.Editing will preferably take place via an Internet browser connected tothe website. The editing facility allows members to amend their requestfor offers if they lose interest in a particular type of commodity ordevelop a new interest.

The use of the requests for offers to target potential customers whohave interests relating to commodities offered in a particularpromotion, means that members will only receive promotional offers whichare likely to appeal to them. This reduces the amount of unsolicited“junk mail” that many individuals, households and businesses have todeal with.

As an incentive for registering as a member to the spatial marketplacesystem, the member may be offered a reward. The member does not becomeeligible to receive the reward unless all pertinent details and aminimum number of attributes for the request for offers have beensubmitted as part of the registration process. Once the eligibilitycriteria are fulfilled, the member is provided with access to a websitedevelopment tool to assist in creation of their own personal website.The website development tool enables the reward recipient to createtheir own personal website without need for any special skills to build,edit or maintain the website.

Suppliers are provided with access to the spatial marketplace system,preferably by means of an Internet browser connected to the website. Thesupplier defines a geographical region or business catchment area withinwhich the supplier proposes to deliver promotional offers relating to aparticular commodity.

The extent of the geographical region or business catchment area may bedefined by reference to a specified distance from one or more specificgeographical points. For example in defining a geographical region orbusiness catchment area for a local pizza shop, delivery of offers couldbe limited to members located within 5 radial kilometres of the shop.Alternatively, suppliers may select the geographical region by simplyselecting a town, suburb, postcode or municipality. Suppliers may alsoselect the geographical region by reference to an area displayed on amap presented to the advertiser on an interface as shown in FIG. 3,whereby modification of the area displayed on the map results in acorresponding modification of the geographical region. Modification ofthe area displayed on the map may involve panning and or zooming the mapwindow for example. The supplier is thereby able to restrictdistribution of promotional offers to members who reside within thecatchment area of the business offering the commodity and who are knownto be interested in receiving such offers.

Once a geographical region within which the promotional material is tobe distributed has been defined by the supplier, a spatial identifierlocation algorithm is employed to identify database records associatedwith spatial identifiers that are located within the specifiedgeographical region. The spatial identifier is derived from the physicaladdress of the individual or household, which is compulsory informationto be provided in the registration process. Examples of spatialidentifiers may comprise a set of coordinates, defining a precise pointof latitude and longitude where the individual or household is locatedor a set of coordinates defining a three dimensional location on a grid.

The spatial identifier location algorithm may perform a variety offunctions which can be modified according to user requirements. Thevarious functions are based on mathematical computations. For instance,the spatial identifier location algorithm can be employed to identifydatabase records associated with spatial identifiers, which are locatedwithin a nominated radial distance of a specified location. For example,the spatial identifier location algorithm could be used to isolatedatabase records associated with a spatial identifier which falls within10 kilometres of a garden supply centre positioned at a specifiedlocation (x, y). Alternatively, the spatial identifier algorithm may beused to identify database records related to a spatial identifier, whichis located within the nominated radial distance, from any one of one ormore specified locations. This variant of the spatial identifieralgorithm could be useful, for example, in establishing a distributionroute for material promoting one or more certain franchise outletswithin a certain locality. As a further alternative, the spatialidentifier algorithm could be used to identify database records linkedto a spatial identifier, which defines a position within a nominateddistance of a specified point in a specified direction. For example, thespatial identifier algorithm could be used to identify database recordsassociated with spatial identifiers which are located within 2kilometres east of a specified location.

The supplier is advised of the number of identified database recordsassociated with nominated attributes matching the attributes nominatedby the supplier and the cost of delivering offers to members associatedwith each of those database records. The supplier then has the option ofauthorising delivery of offers to those members by agreeing to incur thecost. Alternatively, the supplier may modify the geographical region toincrease or decrease the number of offers to be delivered to members. Ifthe supplier holds an account with the spatial marketplace system, theaccount is debited accordingly.

Moreover it is to be understood that according to a preferred embodimentof the invention, individual suppliers are not provided with data aboutmembers which post requests for offers, notwithstanding that suppliersmay be provided with addresses or telephone numbers depending on themode of delivery nominated by the member.

Therefore, the supplier targets the distribution of marketing materialto qualified potential customers, that is, by restricting thedistribution of marketing material to members whose requests for offersinclude attributes, which describe or relate to the commodities to beadvertised. In so doing, the supplier limits the delivery of promotionaloffers to those members who are most likely to be interested in thecommodities on offer, rendering the marketing process more efficient andcost effective.

In directing the delivery of offers in this manner, efficiency andsuccess rate of the promotion is increased considerably since recipientsof the offers have previously indicated that they are interested inreceiving promotional material and special offers in relation to acertain types of commodities. That is, potential customers are qualifiedbefore offers are delivered to them. As a result, the likelihood ofwinning recipients of offers over as customers is significantlyincreased. Therefore, suppliers are not wasting money on deliveringoffers to individuals, households and businesses that are clearly notwithin their business catchment area or demographic.

The offers may be delivered via any one or more modes including email,mail, telephone, mobile telephone or a dedicated message delivery systembut is not limited thereto. A dedicated message delivery system mayinvolve sending an offer directly to a member's system control panelviewed via an Internet browser. Alternative means of delivering offersmay for example include messaging the member's website, website banneradvertising or facsimile transmission.

Suppliers pay a fee for use of the spatial marketplace system based onthe number of offers delivered to members. A proportion of the revenueraised from advertising fees is distributed amongst the organisations orgroups, which have successfully introduced their members to the spatialmarketplace system and to whom offers have been distributed.

A supplier also has the option of combining requests for offerattributes with an organisation membership. For instance, a HoldenDealer can advertise to members, which are interested in a new motorcarand offer members of the Institute of Engineers a discount of $3000.00.Therefore the spatial marketplace system has enabled the supplier tofurther qualify prospects by including the prerequisite that memberstargeted by the promotion be members of the Institute of Engineers.

The spatial marketplace system enables members to post requests foroffers relating to particular commodities. For instance, if a memberwere considering purchasing a new family sedan, a request for offercould be posted on the system seeking offers from suppliers of familysedans. If the member had a particular make and model of family sedan inmind, the request for offers could be restricted by selectingappropriate request for offer attributes to describe the particular makeand model of family sedan required.

Furthermore, the member could request that the request for offers beposted by the system in one weeks time and indicate that the member isopen to receiving offers form suppliers for a period of two weeks. Themember may also nominate a preferred settlement or payment optionselected from a menu provided by the spatial marketplace system so thatthe delivery of offers is restricted to offers from suppliers who offersettlement or payment via the members preferred option. For example, themember may only be interested in purchasing commodities from suppliersthat accept American Express™.

Whilst it is to be understood that the system provides for suppliers torespond to requests for offers manually, in most cases it is moreexpedient for the spatial marketplace system to generate automatedoffers in response to requests for offers. Furthermore, suppliers can benotified when an extraordinary request for offer is detected, which thesupplier may wish to respond to manually. For example, if a singlerequest for offer requests an offer for 20 family sedans, suppliers maywish to assemble a special offer in order to obtain the business.

The supplier is also notified by the spatial marketplace how manyrequests for offers matching the suppliers criteria have been posted andwhat charges will be incurred by responding by delivery of anappropriate offer.

The spatial marketplace system offers a range of generic templates,which may be customised by individual suppliers, to enable them to buildadvertisements and offers quickly and without requirement for specialistskills.

The spatial marketplace system has considerable application formunicipalities, which can register the residents of a municipality withthe spatial marketplace system to enable spatially targeted delivery ofall its corporate, service and emergency messages. For example, aparticular message relating to library services could be delivered toall residents living within 2 kilometres of the municipal library. Amessage regarding pre school services could be delivered to families whouse pre school services living within 3 kilometres of a new pre school.Residents likely to be affected by impending roadwork could be notifiedby a municipal message delivered to all residents living within 1kilometre of the location of the roadwork. Revenue generated by thespatial marketplace system could be used to fund community projects.

Residents may filter messages received from their municipality byselecting or deselecting particular attributes. For instance, a residentmay choose to receive municipal messages relating to roadwork, wastemanagement, and town planning matters, but block messages concerningchild care and local arts programs.

The spatial marketplace system also has application for presentingoffers for commodities from suppliers to businesses and for businessesto request such offers from suppliers.

Businesses may register with the spatial marketplace system as a memberwishing to make requests for offers, or as a supplier wishing to deliveroffers to potential customers, that is as a supplier, or both.

An advertising agency or industry organisation or the like whichmaintains a membership database or similar as part of its operations,may promote the spatial marketplace system to their members. In exchangefor introducing members to the spatial marketplace system, the agency ororganisation receives a percentage of revenue raised by the spatialmarketplace system through advertising.

The members must register contact details as part of the registrationprocess as previously described. FIG. 4 shows a form to be completed bybusiness members as part of the registration process.

The spatial marketplace system allows suppliers to limit the number ofrequests for offers to which they will respond in a specified timeframe. This is particularly relevant where the system is generatingautomated responses to requests for offers on behalf of a supplier. Forinstance, a supplier may estimate that it typically receives a responseto 20% of offers generated in response to requests for offers. Thesupplier may have capacity to supply 100 units per week. Therefore, thesupplier may elect to generate up to 500 offers in any one week period.

Furthermore, suppliers can be selective regarding which requests foroffers they will respond to. Although a supplier may deal in aparticular type of goods, which is of interest to a member, the suppliermay deal only in large quantities of that particular good. For example,a brick manufacturer may not be interested in providing offers to amember who requires a small number of bricks to build a barbeque, butmay only be interested in responding to requests for offers for say morethan 1,000 bricks.

The spatial marketplace system enables each business to accuratelydefine its unique business catchment area thereby minimising waste andincreasing the efficiency and efficacy of the distribution of offers.

It is to be understood that various additions, alterations and/ormodifications may be made to the parts previously described withoutdeparting from the ambit of the invention.

1-27. (canceled)
 28. A method of managing the delivery of offers fromsuppliers to members via a spatial marketplace system including thesteps of: (a) registering potential customers as members of the spatialmarketplace system by recording their names and contact details in adatabase; (b) assigning a spatial identifier to each database record,the spatial identifier being sourced from the contact details suppliedduring a registration process; (c) each member nominating one or moreattributes corresponding to a commodity in relation to which the memberis interested in receiving offers; (d) each supplier defining ageographic region in which the supplier wishes to do business andnominating one or more attributes corresponding to commodities which thesupplier wishes to sell; (e) using a spatial identifier locationalgorithm to identify the database records with spatial identifierslocated within the geographical region defined by the supplier; whereindelivery of offers from a supplier is restricted to members associatedwith the identified database records which have nominated attributesmatching the attributes nominated by the supplier.
 29. A methodaccording to claim 28, further including the step of advising eachsupplier of the number of identified database records associated withnominated attributes matching the attributes nominated by the supplierand the cost of delivering offers to members associated with each ofthose database records, wherein the supplier either agrees to deliveroffers to each of the members thereby incurring the cost, or modifiesthe geographical region to increase or decrease the number of offers tobe delivered.
 30. A method according to claim 28, further including thestep of accompanying each database record by details of memberships to athird party organisation, wherein the third party organisation receivesa percentage of revenue form the spatial marketplace system in returnfor introducing their members to the system.
 31. A method according toclaim 28, further including the step of the supplier associating anumeric qualifier or range of numeric qualifiers with one or moreattributes, wherein the delivery of offers is further restricted tomembers which have nominated a numeric qualifier for the relevantattribute which matches or falls within the range of the numericqualifiers nominated by the supplier.
 32. A method according to claim28, further including the step of the member nominating a preferredsettlement or payment option selected from a menu provided by thesystem, wherein the delivery of offers is further restricted to memberswhich have nominated a settlement or payment option which matches thesettlement or payment options utilised by the supplier.
 33. A methodaccording to claim 28, further including the step of the membernominating a point in time and a time interval when a request for offerswill be presented to suppliers.
 34. A method according to claim 28,further including the step of the member nominating a mode via which theoffers will be delivered from the supplier to the member.
 35. A methodaccording to claim 34, wherein the mode via which the offers will bedelivered from the supplier to the member is selected from one or moreof the following: (a) via a member's system control panel; (b) via themember's email; (c) via a nominated third party email; (d) viatelephone; (e) via short message service (SMS); or (f) via post.
 36. Amethod according to claim 28, wherein the geographical region is an areawithin a distance from one or more geographical points nominated by thesupplier.
 37. A method according to claim 28, wherein the geographicalregion is an area displayed on a map presented to the supplier on aninterface, whereby modification of the area displayed on the map resultsin a corresponding modification in the geographical region.
 38. A methodaccording to claim 28, wherein each attribute is defined by at leastfour levels, each consecutive level providing a refinement to adescription of the commodity.
 39. A spatial marketplace system formanaging the delivery of offers from suppliers to members, including:(a) a database recording the names of the members; (b) means forassigning a spatial identifier to each database record, the spatialidentifier being sourced from information supplied during a registrationprocess; (c) means for associating each record with one or moreattributes corresponding to a commodity in relation to which the memberis interested in receiving offers; (d) geographical region selectionmeans by which the supplier selects a geographical region in which theoffers are to be delivered; (e) a spatial identifier location algorithmfor identifying the database records with spatial identifiers locatedwithin the selected geographical region; and (f) delivery means fordelivering the offers to members associated with the identified databaserecords which have nominated attributes matching the attributesnominated by the supplier.
 40. A system according to claim 39, furtherincluding means for accompanying each database record by details ofmemberships to third party organisations, wherein the third partyorganisation receives a percentage of revenue form the spatialmarketplace system in return for introducing their members to thesystem.
 41. A system according to claim 39, further including means forthe supplier to associate a numeric qualifier or range of numericqualifiers with one or more attributes, wherein the delivery of offersis further restricted to members which have nominated a numericqualifier for the relevant attribute which matches or falls within therange of the numeric qualifiers nominated by the supplier.
 42. A systemaccording to claim 39, further including means for nominating apreferred settlement or payment option selected from a menu provided bythe system, wherein the delivery of offers is further restricted tomembers which have nominated a settlement or payment option whichmatches the settlement or payment options utilised by the supplier. 43.A system according to claim 39, further including means for nominating apoint in time and a time interval when a member's request for offerswill be presented to suppliers.
 44. A method according to claim 39,further including means for nominating a mode via which the offers willbe delivered from the supplier to the member.
 45. A system according toclaim 44, wherein the mode via which the offers will be delivered fromthe supplier to the member is selected from one or more of thefollowing: (a) via a member's system control panel; (b) via the member'semail; (c) via a nominated third party email; (d) via telephone; (e) viashort message service (SMS); or (f) via post.
 46. A system according toclaim 39, wherein the geographical region selection means define an areawithin a distance from one or more geographical points nominated by thesupplier.
 47. A system according to claim 39, wherein the geographicalregion selection means defines an area displayed on a map presented tothe supplier on an interface, whereby modification of the area displayedon the map results in a corresponding modification in the geographicalregion.
 48. A system according to claim 39, further including means bywhich suppliers generate automated offers in response to requests foroffers from members.
 49. A system according to claim 39, wherein eachattribute is defined by at least four levels, each consecutive levelproviding a refinement to a description of the commodity.
 50. A systemaccording to claim 39, further including an attribute databaseassociated with the system, the attribute database including thecommodities to be offered using the system and a corresponding uniqueattribute identifier which describes or relates to each of the goods orservices.
 51. A method of establishing a database of potential customersfor the delivery of offers, the method including the following steps:(a) organisations maintaining a membership database introduce theirmembers to a spatial marketplace system as members in return for apercentage of revenue; (b) members are offered an incentive in exchangefor registering, providing a spatial identifier, nominating attributescorresponding to commodities in relation to which the member consents toreceiving offers; and (c) suppliers are granted access to a register ofmembers which are categorised according to their spatial identifiers andattribute profiles; thereby enabling advertisers to target members whosespatial identifiers and attribute profiles correspond to criteriapredetermined by the supplier.
 52. A method of establishing a databaseof potential customers according to claim 51, wherein the incentiveoffered to members is use of a personal website.